Their moves, namely getting centre Paul Stastny and defenceman Carl Gunnarsson in the tough Western Conference, stand out among the hundreds of trades, signings, hirings and firings made this summer in the NHL.

Here’s a look at the best and the worst of hockey’s off-season:

The Best

St. Louis Blues

The key here is that they added a potential No. 1 centre in Stastny, hurting a division rival — the Colorado Avalanche — in the process. In the tight Central Division, a move like that could make all the difference. Add KHL veteran Jori Lehtera to a deep mix that includes David Backes and Patrick Berglund, and the Blues are solid up front.

The feeling in St. Louis is the Blues got a real deal in getting Gunnarsson from the Leafs for Roman Polak, making the Blues already solid defence even better. The issue with St. Louis, though, is always goaltending.

Tampa Bay Lightning

No team looks to have taken advantage of the weak Eastern Conference this summer better than Steve Yzerman’s Lightning. He could argue the only reason they lost in the first round was the injury to goalie Ben Bishop. With the changes made this summer, the Bolts could be the premier team in the East. Yzerman made some savvy cap-space creating trades — notably being the middleman in the three-way deal that saw Sam Gagner leave Edmonton for Arizona. Yzerman used the cap space to bring in Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman to bolster the blue line, Brenden Morrow and Brian Boyle for veteran depth and Evgeni Nabokov as a stable backup to Bishop.

Yzerman also re-signed Callahan, a leader, and can expect Jonathan Drouin, the third pick in the 2013 NHL draft, to play a big role this season, maybe even on Steve Stamkos’s wing.

Washington Capitals

A new GM, a new coach and a new commitment to defence might just be what propels the Capitals to become a team that is more than just all about Alex Ovechkin.

The new GM is Brian MacLellan, who had been George McPhee’s assistant. The new coach is Barry Trotz, formerly of the defensively sound Nashville Predators. The team signed two key blueliners — Matt Niskanen (seven years, $40.25 million) and Brooks Orpik (five years, $27.5 million) — from division rival Pittsburgh. That will help defenceman like John Carlson, Karl Alzner and Mike Green while hurting the Penguins. These moves don’t make the team Cup contenders, but they are a harbinger of better times.

Dallas Stars

Getting Jason Spezza in a trade with the Ottawa Senators was the centerpiece of moves made by Stars GM Jim Nill. It may turn out to be a one-year rental as Spezza is heading toward free agency, but he’s still in his prime and gives Dallas a great 1-2-3 punch down the middle with Tyler Seguin and up-and-comer Valeri Nichushkin.

Nill also signed Ales Hemsky, the long-timer Oiler who finished last year as Spezza’s teammate in Ottawa. And he shored up goaltending with Anders Lindback, who is on his third team and yet to realize his potential. It might just be enough to get past Chicago and out of the Central Division in the playoffs.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs creep into the top five, not so much for their off-season moves — the core of a non-playoff-team remains intact — but for what they did off the ice.

Bringing in Brendan Shanahan as team president seems enlightened. You can quibble about firings of assistant coaches, assistant general managers and the merits of the bottom-six forwards signed this summer, but Shanahan’s hiring of 28-year-old Kyle Dubas — a stats-based hockey mind — signals the Leafs are no longer an stodgy old-boys club but one that will leave no stone unturned in an effort to find wins.

The long-term signing of Jake Gardiner shows there may also be a solid working relationship with all involved: Shanahan, GM Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle.

Honourable mentions

New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers

Both probably overspent for secondary players (Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin in Long Island; Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne in Edmonton) but both probably needed to in order to draw players to their oft-troubled franchises. Theselayers are solid additions that can only help young rosters.

Worst

Pittsburgh Penguins

A new GM, a new coach and a perennial post-season disappointment, this franchise could well be on its way to a train wreck of a season.

The new GM, Jim Rutherford, is widely perceived to have erred in firing coach Dan Bylsma, pursuing Willie Desjardins as replacement only to low-ball him, having to settle instead for Mike Johnston.

Also, Rutherford’s trade of sniper James Neal to Nashville didn’t go over well in the dressing room. The team lost Orpik and Niskanen to Washington and will have to rely on recent draft picks like Beau Bennett and Olli Maatta — drafted by the man Rutherford replaced — to fill in. Things could get awkward.

Boston Bruins

Trapped by the salary cap, the Bruins were unable to add significant players through trade or free agency; they bled players. Jarome Iginla and Shawn Thornton will be missed most of all. It’s not like the Bruins will drop to the bottom of the standings since their depth can help them withstand this. But they are vulnerable with Tuukka Rask as their only netminder with NHL experience since the departure of backup Chad Johnson.

Los Angeles Kings

Sure, they’re the champs. But no one ever got better by standing still, and that’s essentially what the Stanley Cup champions did. It looks as if they’ll start the season with the team that won the Cup, eschewing the opportunities to move players at possibly their highest trade value, or even creating wiggle room via salary cap space by buying out players, perhaps the under-used Mike Richards.

The additions of P.A. Parenteau, Jiri Sekac, Manny Malhotra, Tom Gilbert don’t really make up for the losses of captain Brian Gionta, defenceman Josh Gorges and veteran snipers Daniel Briere and Thomas Vanek. And the way GM Marc Bergevin mishandled the Gorges situation — essentially trading him to Toronto when the player had a clause in his contract preventing such a move — was very unlike the Habs organization

Ottawa Senators

Just terrible news coming out of Ottawa this summer, the worst of which is the announcement that GM Bryan Murray was diagnosed with cancer. It will be largely up to assistant GMs Pierre Dorion and Randy Lee to guide a team that lost Spezza and Hemsky.

The addition of David Legwand will help, but it also forces Kyle Turris into the No. 1 centre role. Fans there should brace themselves for a long season.

Dishonourable mentions

Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild

The Wings tried but struck out in free agency. The Wild added Thomas Vanek, who may be past his best-before date, and did not address its goaltending problems, an Achilles heel for a team that believes itself to be close to contending.

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